1. Politics of Education
1.1. Conservative
1.1.1. William Graham Sumner (Founder)
1.1.2. Free Market
1.1.3. Ronald Reagan
1.2. Traditional
1.2.1. Hard Work
1.2.2. Family Unity
1.2.3. Individual Initiative
2. History of U.S. Education
2.1. Progressive Movement
2.1.1. John Dewey
2.1.2. active learning
2.1.3. emphasized role of experience in education
2.2. Democratic-liberals
2.2.1. U.S. education involves the progressive evolution of a school system committed to providing equality of opportunity for all
2.2.2. Ellwood Cubberly, Merle Curti, and Lawrence A. Cremin
2.2.3. educational history in the U.S. involved both the expansion of opportunity and purpose
3. Equality of Opportunity
3.1. Educational Achievement and Attainment of African-Americans
3.1.1. 84% of African Americans graduate from high school and 19.9% receive a bachelor's degree.
3.1.2. African Americans still lag behind white students in educational achievement and attainment.
3.1.3. Achievement goes up in relation to parental activity
3.2. Response to Coleman: Round One
3.2.1. produced a number of studies that substantiated what Coleman and his colleagues had found
3.2.2. differences among schools are not what powerful predictors of differences in student outcomes
3.2.3. Some sociologists examined and reexamined Coleman's data while a group of minority scholars set about the task of defining those characteristics of schools that made them effective.
4. Educational Inequality
4.1. Functionalist Theory
4.1.1. the role of schools is to provide a fair and meritocratic selection process fr sorting out the best and brightest individuals, regardless of family background
4.1.2. believe that unequal educational outcomes are the result, in part, of unequal educational opportunities
4.1.3. important to understand the sources of educational inequality so as to ensure the elimination of structural barriers to educational success and to provide all groups a fair chance to compete in the educational marketplace
4.2. Cultural Deprivation Theory
4.2.1. students come to school without the requisite intellectual and social skills necessary for school success
4.2.2. the poor have a deprived culture--one that lacks the value system of middle-class culture
4.2.3. critics argue that it removes the responsibility for school success and failure from schools and teachers, and places it on families
5. Educational Reform
5.1. Teacher Education
5.1.1. There were several problems in teacher education which led to a huge debate on the subject.
5.1.2. There needs to be better prepared teachers to meet the challenges of the twenty first century
5.1.3. Carnegie Report called for "sweeping changes in educational policy," which would include the restructuring of schools and the teaching profession, the elimination of the undergraduate education major, the recruitment of minorities into the teaching profession, and the increase of standards in teacher education and in teaching.
5.2. School Finance Reforms
5.2.1. Rodriguez v. San Antonio declared there is no constitutional right to an equal education
5.2.2. The court ruled in 1990, stating that more funding was needed to serve the students in poorer school districts.
5.2.3. Although school finance suits are necessary to ensure that all children receive an adequate education, without addressing the economic forces outside of schools they will not be sufficient.
6. Sociology of Education
6.1. Functional Theories
6.1.1. Emile Durkheim--invented the sociology of education
6.1.2. Educational reform is supposed to create structures, programs, and curricula that are technically advanced, rational, and encourage social unity
6.2. Conflict Theories
6.2.1. the glue of society is economic, political, cultural, and military power
6.2.2. emphasize struggle
6.2.3. Karl Marx and Max Weber
6.3. Interactional Theories
6.3.1. primarily critiques and extensions of the functional and conflict perspectives
7. Sociological Perspectives
8. Philosophy of Education
8.1. Progressivism
8.1.1. Educators start with the needs and interests of the child in the classroom, allow the child to participate in planning his or her course of study, employ project method or group learning, and depend heavily on experiential learning.
8.1.2. The main researchers are Sanders Pierce, William James, and John Dewey. John Dewey is the main founder of this teaching philosophy though.
8.1.3. The role of school was to integrate children into a democratic society.
8.1.4. The role of education was growth.
8.1.5. The teacher is no longer the authoritarian figure but a facilitator.
8.1.6. Dewey wanted children to learn both individually and in groups. Rote memorization of traditional schools was replaced with individualized study, problem solving, and the project method.
8.1.7. There is no fixed curriculum, rather, curriculum changes as the social order changes and as children's interests need to change.
9. Curriculum and Pedagogy
9.1. Social Efficiency Curriculum
9.1.1. a philosophically pragmatist approach developed in the early twentieth century as a putatively democratic response to the development of mass public secondary education
9.1.2. rooted in the belief that different groups of students, with different sets of needs and aspirations, should receive different types of schooling
9.1.3. some believe it was a distortion of Dewey's progressive vision
9.2. Hidden Curriculum
9.2.1. Includes what is taught to students through implicit rules and messages, as well as through what is left out of the formal curriculum
9.2.2. teaches the character traits, behaviors, and attitudes needed in the capitalist economy
9.2.3. differentially prepares students from different social class backgrounds with the type of personality traits required in the work place